Psychodynamic Therapy

Private Psychodynamic Therapy

Psychodynamic therapy is a highly effective approach that embraces the work of analytical psychology and psychoanalysis. It is an in-depth form of talk therapy. Often, psychodynamic therapy is less intensive than psychoanalytic therapy—with sessions occurring once a week rather than two to three times per week for example—with respect to the frequency and number of sessions, but this is not always the case and depends on the needs of the patient.

Psychodynamic therapy is primarily used to treat depression and other serious psychological disorders. It is helpful for those who have lost meaning in their lives, for those who lack a solid sense of who they are, and for those who have difficulty forming or maintaining personal relationships. Studies have found that other effective applications of psychodynamic therapy include addiction, social anxiety disorder, eating disorders, and personality disorders (in the form of transference-based therapy).

It focuses on allowing patients to increase awareness of their inner world and its influence over relationships—and vice versa—both from childhood and in the present. Dreams and fantasies are also an important part of psychodynamic therapy, making the psychodynamic approach uniquely focused on all three aspects of time—past, present, and future. From a psychodynamic intersubjective perspective, personalities develop within the context of relationships with others, including the therapeutic relationship between a therapist and patient.

One of the most profound and universal realizations of later childhood, a realization that probably is never totally integrated, is the discovery that one's parents are not necessarily representative of the human species, that one has grown up in an idiosyncratically structured family with its own peculiarities and dramas.

[STEPHHEN MITCHELL]

With guidance from the therapist, the patient is encouraged to speak in a stream of consciousness style—that is freely about anything that comes to mind, including current worries, desires, dreams, and fantasies. Psychodynamic research indicates that patients may experience ongoing improvements after therapy has ended. Although short-term therapy of one year or less may be sufficient for some patients, long-term therapy may be necessary for others to gain lasting benefits, such as personality change.

Make an appointment today with an expert private psychodynamic therapist from the Box Tree Clinic in Harley Street.